Catholic orders seek new direction as numbers fall

By Barney Zwartz

November 13, 2010 — 3.00am

MOST Catholic religious orders in Australia face a bleak future, with fewer than half the numbers of 25 years ago, a median age of 73 and a death rate vastly outstripping new members, according to a new report.

Many of the 161 orders of nuns, brothers and priests in the report will be extinct within 15 years - some have only two or three members - and they have closed or transferred more than 100 hospitals, schools or aged-care facilities.

Yet, unlike the last such analysis in 1976, the report See I Am Doing a New Thing is strikingly optimistic - partly because of growing partnerships with laypeople and partly because of the dramatically changing work the orders do which has taken many back to their roots on the margins of society.

''Once it was education, nursing or social work, now we are branching out into a variety of needs, like refugees and asylum seekers, people with disabilities, prostitutes and people who have been trafficked,'' said Sister Veronica McCluskie, executive officer of the orders' umbrella organisation, Catholic Religious Australia.

''These areas might not have the public profile, but there's a vibrancy and energy in finding ways to help. There's a great sense of optimism and hope for the future.''

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Melbourne Columban priest Noel Connolly, co-author of the report, admitted yesterday the figures were stark if not unexpected.

They show Australia has 8422 members of Catholic religious orders - 5927 women, 1611 priests and 884 brothers - down from a peak of 19,413 in 1966. Only 8 per cent are under 50, while 74 per cent are over 65 and 27 per cent are over 80.

In the 12 years to 2009, the orders recruited 401 new members, of whom three-quarters were still there last year. But 2531 members died and 483 left in the same time. Father Connolly predicts numbers will be down to 6000 in 10 years.

In 1946, 60 per cent of members were involved in education; today that figure is under 12 per cent. Where Catholic schools and hospitals were once largely staffed by members of religious orders, today most Australian Catholics grow up and live their lives never meeting a member of a religious congregation, the report says.

But Father Connolly said the figures did not show how the orders were adapting, keeping traditional ministries alive while reinventing themselves.

''Most of the vocations are coming from ethnic groups or from overseas, and that's going to have its challenges,'' he said

Christian Brothers deputy leader Peter Harney said the order still ran 40 schools in Australia, but far fewer brothers were teaching. But laypeople were increasingly interested in the ethos of founder Edmund Rice. ''What we call the Edmund Rice network has evolved by itself organically,'' Brother Harney said.